1
a
: any of various large tailless semi-erect primates of Africa and southeastern Asia (such as the chimpanzee, gorilla, orangutan, or gibbon)
called also anthropoid, anthropoid ape
compare great ape
b
: monkey
especially
: one of the larger tailless or short-tailed Old World forms
—not used technically
2
a
: mimic
b
: a large uncouth person
aped; aping
: to copy closely but often clumsily and ineptly
aper
noun
1
: wildly excited or enthusiastic
Our family of ten was ape for apricots, passionate about peaches …—
Jerry Nelson
—usually used in the phrase go apeJerry NelsonKids go ape pointing out the location of the tiny otter on the big stage.—Dewayne Bevil
Dewayne BevilThe odds of the Phillies winning a World Series increased exponentially and the betting world went ape.—Tommy Gartrell
Tommy Gartrell2
: showing extreme or uncontrolled anger, aggression, or agitation
—usually used in the phrase go ape
They knew George Steinbrenner would go ape if the Yankees lost the highest-stakes game ever against the Red Sox.—Randy Miller
Randy MillerAlso, don't scream at the top of your lungs or generally go ape. Screaming is for emergencies.—Jody Stallings
Jody StallingsWinged things have spooked me ever since a duck went ape and attacked me at age 4 at the Bronx Zoo.—Alfred Lubrano
Alfred Lubrano
Examples of ape in a Sentence
Noun
Her boyfriend's some big ape she met at a party.
Verb
She apes the speech and manners of the rich.
was caught aping the substitute teacher's thick accent
Recent Examples on the WebStephanie Zacharek, TIME, 5 Apr. 2024
Kid is first seen in an ape mask fighting (and losing) bare-knuckle battles in an underground arena run by a sleazy South African (Sharlto Copley).
—Ty Burr, Washington Post, 4 Apr. 2024
According to the team, previous efforts to map Critical Habitats in African countries have overlooked large portions of ape habitats that would qualify under international benchmarks.
—Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 3 Apr. 2024
In addition, a new, young ape who accompanies Kong is also introduced in the film, and kids will no doubt relate to the character because of his youthful demeanor.
—Tim Lammers, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024
Oh, and also there’s this huge ape, like really huge, that lived on a remote place called Skull Island.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 28 Mar. 2024
Other ape behaviors — young females getting maternal training, for example — indicated something even more impressive: that apes were capable of learning, remembering and passing down new skills across generations, meaning that different communities had their own cultures.
—Alex Traub, New York Times, 20 Mar. 2024
Better still, in one marvelous, wordless interlude, an ape tells a joke to a cavern full of other apes.
—Amy Nicholson, Washington Post, 28 Mar. 2024
This kid gorilla leads Kong to a tribe of scraggly hostile apes who are living in a slave society presided over by the Skar King, an evil ape with blotchy red hair who’s as tall as Kong and wields a skeletal bone whip that looks like it was fashioned out of the spine of a sea serpent.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 28 Mar. 2024
Lili Loofbourow, Washington Post, 20 Mar. 2024
As the Guardian points out, Instagram achieved this feat partly by aping TikTok’s short-form video format in Reels.
—David Meyer, Fortune, 11 Mar. 2024
What happens when the forces that are supposed to stop an insane person begin to ape him?
—Christian Schneider, National Review, 25 Jan. 2024
Meta follows Airbnb The case apes Italy’s targeting of Airbnb earlier this year amid a European push to get U.S. tech companies to fork out more tax from their operations in the continent.
—Ryan Hogg, Fortune Europe, 22 Dec. 2023
Anderson’s work has long been darker than the TikTok memes that reduce it to a filter, aping its aesthetic and nothing else.
—Vulture, 29 Sep. 2023
In other cases, spoofers ape the signals made by missiles or planes to trick air defense systems into detecting attacks that aren’t happening.
—Aaron Krolik, New York Times, 19 Nov. 2023
These fake engine noises are occasionally fun, especially Dynamic, which does an almost compelling job of aping a combustion engine with a little digital flare.
—Daniel Golson, The Verge, 27 Oct. 2023
The Apple Watch has attracted plenty of imitators trying to ape the wearable's design and features.
—Chuong Nguyen, Ars Technica, 25 Oct. 2023
Crispin Long, The New Yorker, 12 July 2022
Each faces resistance from his own side, since anti-ape prejudice is still part of the formerly dominant species’ worldview.
—New York Times, 13 May 2021
But now the world’s gorillas, and also their great-ape cousins, the chimpanzees, bonobos and orang-utans, face another threat from their human neighbours: covid-19.
—The Economist, 16 May 2020
But a close analysis of the rounded head of the femur revealed that their hips were carrying weight differently and much more ape-like by hanging out in trees.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN, 2 Apr. 2020
Every hominin species in the fossil record has its own unique mix of familiar human traits and more ape-like ones, shaped by their environments and lifestyles.
—Kiona N. Smith, Ars Technica, 30 Mar. 2020
Walking upright on two legs is considered a human trait that separates us from our ape relatives, like chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN, 2 Apr. 2020
That species was an early member of our genus who walked upright and had a mixture of human and ape-like features.
—Kiona N. Smith, Ars Technica, 3 Feb. 2020
The fire started in a corner of the ape house’s roof in the first minutes of the new year and spread rapidly.
—Washington Post, 2 Jan. 2020
Noun
Kid makes a meager living as a wrestler at an underground fight club, his haunted visage hidden by an ape mask.
—Stephanie Zacharek, TIME, 5 Apr. 2024
Kid is first seen in an ape mask fighting (and losing) bare-knuckle battles in an underground arena run by a sleazy South African (Sharlto Copley).
—Ty Burr, Washington Post, 4 Apr. 2024
According to the team, previous efforts to map Critical Habitats in African countries have overlooked large portions of ape habitats that would qualify under international benchmarks.
—Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 3 Apr. 2024
In addition, a new, young ape who accompanies Kong is also introduced in the film, and kids will no doubt relate to the character because of his youthful demeanor.
—Tim Lammers, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024
Oh, and also there’s this huge ape, like really huge, that lived on a remote place called Skull Island.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 28 Mar. 2024
Other ape behaviors — young females getting maternal training, for example — indicated something even more impressive: that apes were capable of learning, remembering and passing down new skills across generations, meaning that different communities had their own cultures.
—Alex Traub, New York Times, 20 Mar. 2024
Better still, in one marvelous, wordless interlude, an ape tells a joke to a cavern full of other apes.
—Amy Nicholson, Washington Post, 28 Mar. 2024
This kid gorilla leads Kong to a tribe of scraggly hostile apes who are living in a slave society presided over by the Skar King, an evil ape with blotchy red hair who’s as tall as Kong and wields a skeletal bone whip that looks like it was fashioned out of the spine of a sea serpent.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 28 Mar. 2024
Verb
Maxine pingpongs from humiliation to humiliation while aping their hauteur and sunnily rejecting their rejection.
—Lili Loofbourow, Washington Post, 20 Mar. 2024
As the Guardian points out, Instagram achieved this feat partly by aping TikTok’s short-form video format in Reels.
—David Meyer, Fortune, 11 Mar. 2024
What happens when the forces that are supposed to stop an insane person begin to ape him?
—Christian Schneider, National Review, 25 Jan. 2024
Meta follows Airbnb The case apes Italy’s targeting of Airbnb earlier this year amid a European push to get U.S. tech companies to fork out more tax from their operations in the continent.
—Ryan Hogg, Fortune Europe, 22 Dec. 2023
Anderson’s work has long been darker than the TikTok memes that reduce it to a filter, aping its aesthetic and nothing else.
—Vulture, 29 Sep. 2023
In other cases, spoofers ape the signals made by missiles or planes to trick air defense systems into detecting attacks that aren’t happening.
—Aaron Krolik, New York Times, 19 Nov. 2023
These fake engine noises are occasionally fun, especially Dynamic, which does an almost compelling job of aping a combustion engine with a little digital flare.
—Daniel Golson, The Verge, 27 Oct. 2023
The Apple Watch has attracted plenty of imitators trying to ape the wearable's design and features.
—Chuong Nguyen, Ars Technica, 25 Oct. 2023
Adjective
The same is true of their treatment of Number One, Luther, who is gravely harmed on a doomed solo mission and injected with a life-saving experimental serum that transforms his body into that of an ape-human hybrid.
—Crispin Long, The New Yorker, 12 July 2022
Each faces resistance from his own side, since anti-ape prejudice is still part of the formerly dominant species’ worldview.
—New York Times, 13 May 2021
But now the world’s gorillas, and also their great-ape cousins, the chimpanzees, bonobos and orang-utans, face another threat from their human neighbours: covid-19.
—The Economist, 16 May 2020
But a close analysis of the rounded head of the femur revealed that their hips were carrying weight differently and much more ape-like by hanging out in trees.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN, 2 Apr. 2020
Every hominin species in the fossil record has its own unique mix of familiar human traits and more ape-like ones, shaped by their environments and lifestyles.
—Kiona N. Smith, Ars Technica, 30 Mar. 2020
Walking upright on two legs is considered a human trait that separates us from our ape relatives, like chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN, 2 Apr. 2020
That species was an early member of our genus who walked upright and had a mixture of human and ape-like features.
—Kiona N. Smith, Ars Technica, 3 Feb. 2020
The fire started in a corner of the ape house’s roof in the first minutes of the new year and spread rapidly.
—Washington Post, 2 Jan. 2020
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ape.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Noun
Middle English, from Old English apa; akin to Old High German affo ape
First Known Use
Noun
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1b
Verb
1632, in the meaning defined above
Adjective
1950, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Time Traveler
The first known use of ape was
before the 12th century
Phrases Containing ape
Dictionary Entries Near ape
Cite this Entry
“Ape.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ape. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
Copy Citation
Kids Definition
ape
1 of 2 noun1
a
: monkey entry 1 sense 1
especially
: one of the larger tailless or short-tailed forms
b
: any of two families of large primates including the chimpanzee, gorilla, orangutan, and gibbon
3
: a large uncouth person
ape
2 of 2 verb
aped; aping
: to copy closely but often clumsily
aper
noun
More from Merriam-Webster on ape
Nglish: Translation of ape for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of ape for Arabic Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about ape
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